Method of producing brake hangers



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 F. SCHAEFER METHOD OF PRODUCING BRAKE HANGERS Filed Feb. 23, 1935 June 26, 1 934.

f INVEINTQCF 6% WITNESSES ($0. v ual. L

June 26, 1934. F. SCHAEFER METHOD OF PRODUCING BRAKE HANGERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 23, 1933 t I I r I 044x93 3 Ez 2/;w 4

I l l l l l l l 4 l 4 l l l I l l I l 1 I I I l Patented June 26, 1934 UNITED STATES rATsNT OFFICE 6 Claims.

My invention pertains to methods of producing particularly by forging, what are generally known as brake-hangers, that is, hangers for supporting the brake-beams on railway cars and the like, and has as its principal object the provision of such a method that will be at once economical and provide for special strength at the corners where the yoke or yokes and the side-bars of the hanger join.

In the manufacture of forged brake-hangers, in order to obtain an economy of production that will permit the hangers to be sold competitively, it is desirable to reduce to a minimum the amount of flash that inevitably occurs during the forging of the metal to the required shape, which flash must be trimmed away and of course represents loss. To this end, according to prior inventions, I have provided, among others, methods by which brake-hanger blanks are forged in non-rectangular parallelogram shape, thereby decreasing the area of flash at the center part of the blank to a relatively small amount, the hangers being thereafter expanded into rectangular form. The last-named operation required bending of the blank at the corners to bring the latter from obtuse and acute angles to right angles; and testing, by etching and otherwise, has shown that this bending results in a certain loss of strength at the corners in question. Ac-

' 5 cording to the method of my present invention,

I produce, by forging, a blank which includes one of the yoke portions of the hanger with portions of the side-bars adjacent such yoke already at right angles thereto, the remaining portions of the side-bars being so shaped that they can lie close to each other, thus minimizing the area of flash therebetween. The last-named side portions are then straightened, as by stretching, to produce the rectangular hanger. Not only is the method very economical, reducing the flash to a minimum, but it entirely eliminates bending the metal at the parts which will constitute the corners between the yoke or yokes and the sidebars, which bending, as has been stated, has been a source of weakness.

My improved method will be understood from the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown, by way of example, three ways of'practicing the same. It will be understood, however, that the method can be carried out in still other ways without exceeding the scope of my invention, as defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a rough blank such as may be employed in producing any of the several forms of hanger shown in the remaining figures;

Fig. 2 is a plan of a hanger blank, for producing a U-shaped hanger, forged from the rough blank shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the portion of the forged blank, which is to form the eye or bearing portion of the hanger, the view being taken as seen from the line III-III of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 and 5 are cross-sections taken on the lines IVIV and VV of Fig. 2, respectively;

Fig. 6 is a plan showing, in full lines, the blank after the flash has been trimmed away and, in dotted lines, the blank after the side-bars have been stretched straight at right angles with the yoke portion;

Fig. 7 shows the completed U-shaped hanger after the bearing portions have been twisted into a position in which they stand at right angles to the plane of the hanger;

Fig. 8 is a plan of a modified forged blank for a U-shaped hanger, in which blank the parts that will constitute the bearing portions of the hanger are originally forged at right angles to the plane of the hanger;

Fig. 9 is aside elevation of a portion of the blank shown in Fig. 8, as seen from the line IX IX of that figure;

Fig. 10 is a plan of a forged blank for use in producing a loop hanger; and

Fig. 11 shows, in full lines, the blank illustrated in Fig. 10, with the flash trimmed away, and, in dotted lines, such blank after stretching of the side bars to produce the rectangular hanger.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1 to 7, a cylindrical rough blank a, as shown in Fig. 1, is preferably employed, since with such a shape the scale drops away during the forging operation and does not become imbedded in the forged blank. The rough blank, in the production of a U-shaped hanger, is drop forged in suitable dies to produce the forged blank shown in Fig. 2. Such blank comprises a yoke portion 10, preferably of pear shape in cross-section (Fig. 5) having short side-bar ends 11, 11a disposed substantially at right angles thereto. Extending from the side-bar ends 11, 11a are the main side-bar portions 12, 1211, which may be of circular crosssection (Fig. 4), having at their extremities the eye-shaped bearing portion 13, 13a. The side-bar portions 12, 12a are of such length that when straightened, and usually stretched somewhat, they will produce the required length of side-bars in the finished hanger. One of the side-bar portions, 12a, is curved in such a manner as to approach relatively close the side-bar portion 12 at one part and, at the other part, so as to provide a concave space for receiving the bearing portion 13 of the other side-bar portion 12. Thus the whole blank occupies a very narrow space. The curving of the side-bar portions, while such as to bring the respective parts of the blank as close together as possible, nevertheless is such as to provide room, adjacent the yoke, for the introduction of a stretching tool at the latter point.

After the forging of the blank, the flash, designated b in Fig. 2, is trimmed away, leaving the blank as shown in full lines in Fig. 6. Thereupon a tool 0 is introduced at the portion of the blank adjacent the yoke 10 and tools (1 into the eyes of the bearing portions 13, 13a. Relative movement is then effected between the tools 01 and the tool 0 in any one of several manners well known in the art,as for instance, by moving the tools. (1 along paths such as are indicated by the dotted lines f,to bring the tools d to the position indicated at d. This movement is such as to effect a certain amount of stretching of the side-bar portions 12, 12a, whereby these are straightened into line with the side-bar ends 11, which were originally substantially at right angles with the yoke 10. The amount of stretching may be varied, and inthat way slight differences in the final length of the hanger produced. This allows several lengths of hanger, within reasonable limits, to be made from the same blank, and reduces the number of dies which must be provided for manufacturing an entire line of hangers of various lengths.

In the form of blankshown in Fig. 2, the bearing portions 13, 13a lie in the plane of the hanger; whereas such bearing, portions, in the finished hanger, must stand at right angles to the plane of the latter. Accordingly, the final operation is to twist the bearing portions through a right angle, from the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6, to the position shown in Fig. 7, which illustrates the completed hanger. The operation of twisting the bearing portions can, if desired, be, 1 effected simultaneously with the stretching of the side-bars, for instance, by imparting a turning movement to the tools d during the main movement thereof followed in stretching the side-bars.

Itwill be noted that according to my invention I have been able to place the hanger portions of they forged blank so closeto-each other that there is a very small area of flash. In previous methods this desirable result has only been obtained at the expense-of a requirement for material bending of the blank to produce the right-angle corners,with the resulting corner weakness to which reference has been made. But by producing the forged blank with the side-bar ends already disposed at right angles to the yoke portion, I am able to eliminateany bending at the points where the side portions and yoke join, and consequently to avoid the corner weakness which would be the result of such bending.

The method shown in Figs. 8 and 9 differs from that shown in Figs. 1 to '7 in that the bearing portions 14, 14a of the hanger are formed upright inthe forged blank, thereby avoiding the necessity of any twisting operation, either during the stretching of the side-bars or at a later stage.

Figs. 10 and 11 show a method, embodying my invention, of producing a loop brake-hanger. In this case, the forged blank is formed with yoke portions 15 each of which has side-bar ends 16 disposed substantially at right angles thereto. The body portions 17 of the side-bars are so curved as to approach closely to each other, though leaving, adjacent the yoke portions, spaces for the reception of the stretching tools. After the flash has been trimmed away the blank has the appearance shown by the full lines in Fig. 11. Tools 9 and h are introduced adjacent the yokes 15 and relative movement between the tools effected in a well known manner,as by moving the tool it along a path such as indicated by the dotted line i, into the position h. This stretches the side-bars and straightens them into line with the end portions 16 thereof to produce the completed brake hanger shown in dotted lines in Fig. 11.

I claim:

1. The method of producing a brake-hanger having a straight yoke and side-bars disposed at right angles thereto, comprisingforging a metallic body to produce a bank having a yokeforming straight portion, portions disposed substantially at right angles to said yoke-forming portion for constituting the side-bar ends, and portions for constituting the bodies of the sidebars, said side-bar body portions being disposed in the blank so as to occupy positions in relatively close proximity with each other, and stretching the side-bar body portions into alignment with the side-bar end portions to complete the hanger.

2. The method of producing a brake-hanger having a straight yoke and side-bars disposed at right angles thereto, comprising-forging a metallic body to produce a blank having a yokeforming straight portion, portions disposed substantially at right angles to said yoke-forming portion for constituting the side-bar ends, and portions for constituting the bodies of the sidebars, said side-bar body portions being disposed at anglesto said side-bar end portions and curved so as to occupy positions in relatively close proximity with each other, leaving space adjacent said yoke-forming portion for the insertion of a stretching tool, and stretching the side-bar body portions into alignment with-the side-bar end portions to complete the hanger;

3. The method of producing a brake-hanger having a straight yoke and side-bars disposed. at rightangles therewith, comprisingforging a metallic body to produce a blank having a yokeforming straight portion, portions to constitute relatively short lengths of the side-bars disposed in their final right-angle relationship with said yoke-forming portion, and portions to constitute the. remainder of the side-bars, said last-named portions being disposed to one side of said yokeforming portion and in close proximity to each other, confining the yoke-forming portion, and applying pressure adjacent the ends of the sidebar. portions remote from said yoke-forming portion to shift-said ends and stretch and align the side-bars throughout their entire length.

4. The method of producing a U-shaped brakehanger having a yoke, side-bars disposed substantially at right angles to said yoke and bearings at the ends of said side-bars, comprisingforging a metallic body to produce a blank having a yoke-forming portion, portions disposed substantially at right angles to said yoke-forming portion for constituting the side-bar ends, portions for constituting the bodies of the sidebars, and portions for constituting the bearings, said side-bar body portions being disposed at angles with said side-bar end portions, and said side-bar body portions and said bearing portions being disposed inrelatively close proximity with each other, and stretching the side-bar body portions into alignment with the side-bar end portions to complete the hanger.

5. The method of producing a U-shaped brakehanger having a yoke, side-bars disposed substantially at right angles to said yoke and bearings at the ends of said side-bars, comprisingforging a metallic body to produce a blank having a yokeorming portion, portions disposed substantially at right angles to said yoke-forming portion for constituting the side-bar ends, portions for constituting the bodies of the side-bars, and portions disposed in the plane of the blank for constituting the bearings, said side-bar body portions being disposed at angles with said side-bar end portions, and said side-bar body portions and said bearing portions being disposed in relatively close proximity with each other, stretching the side-bar body portions into alignment with the side-bar end portions, and twisting said bearing portions to occupy a position at right angles to the plane of the hanger.

6. The method of producing a loop brakehanger having straight yoke portions and sidebars disposed substantially at right angles thereto, comprising-forging a metallic body to produce a blank having yoke-forming straight portions, portions disposed substantially at right angles to said yoke-forming portions for constituting the side-bar ends, and portions for constituting the bodies of the side-bars, said sidebar body portions being curved to occupy positions in relatively close proximity with each other, and applying force to stretch said side-bar body portions into alignment with said side-bar end portions to complete the hanger.

FREDERIC SCHAEFER. 

